Mukuro Hoshimiya pulled the lollipop out of her mouth and raised her chin in a certain direction in the void.
" Little Bei, it's time to get to work."
A crack appeared in the space of the spectator area where her line of sight fell.
Dark purple mist and doll-like bodies poured out of the crack.
Belphegor.
The Sloth Demon King was awakened from the depths of the dream world, his body slowly emerging from the crack and looming over the spectator area.
His eyes were closed, and his expression was languid, as if he had just been dragged out of bed.
But work still needs to be done.
Belphegor took a deep breath.
Then spit it out.
Endless purple-pink energy spread in all directions with this breath.
It swept across the entire planet at an unimaginable speed.
The purplish-pink mist, like a tsunami, engulfed the edge of the atmosphere, seeped down from the stratosphere, and enveloped the clouds, mountains, oceans, and continents.
The entire planet was completely enveloped in a purplish-pink mist.
From a cosmic perspective, Earth appears as a planet shrouded in a purplish-pink halo.
Then.
A blurry figure began to appear in the fog.
The silhouettes of buildings. The textures of streets. The curves of bridges. The silhouettes of skyscrapers.
A person's silhouette.
These illusory figures slowly coalesced in the purplish-pink mist, gradually becoming clearer from their semi-transparent state.
As time passed, the phantom became more and more solid.
The buildings and people of the dream world gradually took shape on the surface of the real world.
The Tokyo Tower. The skyscrapers of New York. The Eiffel Tower in Paris. Big Ben in London.
Everything that existed in the dream world is reconstructed on the surface of the real world.
A materialized dream world covers the entire surface of the planet.
The old surface was covered by a new surface, and the old world was replaced by a new world.
As the last building solidified and took shape in the mist, the purplish-pink mist began to recede.
The Earth has returned to its normal color.
Mukuro Hoshimiya floated in near-Earth orbit, looking down at this newly transformed planet.
"Good."
She made a comment while sucking on a lollipop.
Then it looked in other directions of the solar system.
She had Belphegor create a fake outer shell for the surface of each of the drained planets.
The purplish-pink energy coalesced into the shape of planets, filling their outlines and making them look exactly the same as before.
Mukuro Hoshimiya was very satisfied with this.
"It just needs to look like it."
The next step is the final one.
Gaia.
The Earth's willpower.
Following the plan previously discussed with it, Belphegor began to erode the dream world covering the Earth's surface into the Earth's interior.
Earth's crust, mantle, outer core, inner core.
The purplish-pink energy grows downwards from the earth's surface like tree roots, penetrating rock layers, penetrating the metal core, and gradually filling the earth's interior.
assimilation.
Gaia felt herself being swallowed up.
The will of this planet, the will of Earth that has witnessed four billion years of life evolution, is now being absorbed, integrated, and replaced little by little by the dream world.
It was powerless to resist.
Belphegor's power was too great.
This Sloth Demon Lord, who has devoured the energy of most of the planets in the solar system, has power that completely surpasses what Gaia can contend with.
Gaia could only watch helplessly as she was assimilated.
But it felt no fear.
Because during the process of assimilation, it sensed the existence of another consciousness.
The consciousness of Mukuro Hoshimiya.
She was communicating with it.
"Don't be nervous, I'm not going to kill you."
Mukuro Hoshimiya's voice echoed deep within Gaia's consciousness.
"I need you to help me with the work."
Assimilation is complete.
The will of the Earth and the dream world have merged together.
Gaia's consciousness was preserved, but its form of existence changed. It was no longer the willpower that was only responsible for maintaining the natural operation of the planet.
It became part of the new world.
Mukuro Hoshimiya began formal negotiations with Gaia.
The location was in her room. She sat cross-legged on the bed, and Gaia's consciousness was materialized as a soft green sphere of light, hovering in front of her.
"It's very simple."
Mukuro Hoshimiya bit the lollipop into pieces, chewed it, and swallowed it.
"I'm not good at management, nor am I interested in it. Letting Little Bei manage it is even more unrealistic; you have no idea how lazy he is."
The green orb of light flickered slightly.
"So I need to find someone to manage this new world for me."
"Let humans govern themselves? I don't trust that. Humans are the kind of creatures that start fighting amongst themselves as soon as they're given a little power, causing me a lot of trouble."
"So you're the best candidate."
The light sphere blinked at a slightly faster frequency, as if asking a question.
You ask why I chose you?
Mukuro Hoshimiya crossed his legs.
"Because you are the will of this planet. You understand this world better than anyone else."
"Of course, you're not the only manager."
I plan to find three people.
"You, the human's Counter Force Alaya, and Amakusa Shirou Tokisada."
"Three people, with the right to supervise each other and report to me. A triangle is the most stable shape, according to geometry."
" Alaya represents humanity's collective unconscious, Gaia represents the will of the planet, and Amakusa Shirou represents humanity's ideals. With these three forces in balance, no single entity can dominate."
" Amakusa Shirou's wish is to save all of humanity through the Soul Materialization using the Third Magic. He treats everyone equally, good or bad, friend or foe. This saintly way of thinking is perfect for being a manager."
The sphere of light remained silent for a second.
Then it lit up slowly and steadily for a moment.
Agreed.
"Very good."
Mukuro Hoshimiya jumped off the bed.
"From today onwards, you will be one of the managers of the new world. Have Little Bei compile a detailed set of management rules for you, although I doubt whether he can manage to do so given his personality."
She left the room and went to Belphegor's side.
The enormous Sloth King of Sloth lay sprawled in the void, his eyes closed, looking as if he wanted to sleep after finishing his work.
" Little Bei, stop plundering energy from other worlds."
Belphegor opened his eyes a crack.
"With current energy reserves, it's enough to sustain this new world for billions of years. And during those billions of years, the new world can continue to expand beyond the solar system, utilizing more energy-rich planets."
"To continue the future of this world."
"There's no need to steal from others anymore."
Belphegor's eyes closed again.
The enormous head nodded slightly.
knew.
Mukuro Hoshimiya patted his head.
Then she suddenly paused for a moment.
"Um?"
A subtle feeling.
It seems there's still something I haven't done.
She frowned and thought for three seconds.
"Oh, right."
She snapped her fingers.
"I think I promised to do the winner a small favor before."
She turned and went back to the spectator area.
Heracles remained standing in the same spot.
Mukuro Hoshimiya walked up to him and looked up.
"I promised before that the winner could make one reasonable request of me."
"Tell me, what do you want?"
Heracles looked down at her.
There was a few seconds of silence.
Then he spoke.
"I hope to save my Master in another parallel world."
" Illya."
"And to bring her happiness."
Mukuro Hoshimiya blinked.
" Illya..."
She frowned and thought for a moment, her mind searching for information about parallel worlds.
"Oh, that world line."
"Can."
"I can send you to that parallel world, allowing you to participate in the Holy Grail War in that timeline, in your current state."
Do you think this is acceptable?
Heracles nodded.
"Can."
"Then please wait a moment."
Mukuro Hoshimiya waved his hand.
"I still have some things to take care of here, I'll come and help you when I'm done."
Heracles stood still, waiting quietly.
Mukuro Hoshimiya turned and left the spectator area.
On the other side.
Belphegor has almost finished handing over control of the new world.
Three copies of the management authorization were sent to Gaia, Alaya, and Amakusa Shirou, respectively.
When Amakusa Shirou was released from the seal, he had a confused expression on his face. After receiving the authorization information and Mukuro Hoshimiya's explanation, his confusion turned into admiration.
"Is this... the new world?"
He stood on the materialized earth's surface, feeling the vitality emanating from beneath his feet.
"I understand. I will do my best."
The handover of permissions is complete.
Belphegor's enormous body reappeared beside Mukuro Hoshimiya.
This time, I'm not here to work.
Mukuro Hoshimiya stood before him, looking up at the enormous demon king.
" Little Bei."
It's time to say goodbye.
She reached out and stroked Belphegor's large head.
Her purplish-black skin rippled slightly beneath her palm.
Belphegor opened his eyes.
Those perpetually languid eyes were now fixed on the small figure before them.
Now, we have to part ways.
Belphegor remained silent.
He simply shook his large head slightly.
knew.
Mukuro Hoshimiya's hand lingered on his head for two more seconds.
Then take it back.
"Alright."
She closed her eyes.
Deep within the Spirit Origin, the power began to reverse.
The purplish-black light faded from her body, the aura of the demon king dissipated from her soul, and the reversed state disintegrated, reformed, and restored in the light.